I know scratches and such have been covered pretty thoroughly before, but I still have a few questions I'd like to ask. First the type of scratches, then followed by numbered questions:

a) light swirl marks, only visibile with light on it, very light marks.

b) similar to swirl marks, but visible at all times. Black light scratches on a PW cooper.

c) a bit darker scratch than b, but also seems to have a tail of clearcoat indent. not sure how to classify this, I can see a very small groove in its tail. Still thin though, looks like a pen mark.

d) stone chips


for a) I plan to use a foam pad with 3M SMR to get rid of them, but since they seems to be at many parts of the car do I, 1) use it pretty much on the whole car? and 2) am i using the right pad?

for b) use 3M finesse it II followed by 3M SMR , using same tools. 3) is this the correct way to go about or do i need touch up paint?

for c) and d) I was planning on getting some langka and just following the direction i suppose. 4) good?

5) lastly, can I do these things by hand or should I get some a RO to do this?

I know there are many questions, and I'm sure they are answered somewhere, but if you don't mind helping me out that would be really helpful.

 

A, B, For the first two it sounds like you have the right plan. Definitely good product choices.

C, I do know what you mean. I would attempt to remove most of this, likely the tail part and reduce the deeper groove with Finesse It. Follow up with SMR.

It is possible to acomplish some improvement by hand using a "pure foam" pad. Do not use a terry cloth covered one. But a quality buffer like a Porter Cable random orbital will make a huge difference. You can get a decent deal with everything but the pads themselves at CoastalTool. Then you just need a yellow and a white pad and you are set.

I have used Langka many times and I find the results less than impressive. Not worth the money IMO. Have you done a search on paint chip repair? there is a process to getting a good look. I don't have time to spell it out now but basically you need to lay in thinned paint in many layers so it flows properly and lays flat in the chip. Here's one way.

 

I had my first experience with Langka last week. I think it could be very nice for small paint chips, but I just couldn't get the results I wanted on scratches. I wound up using the Langka to knock down the paint blob a bit, but then switching to the wet-sanding technique that I've been using for years... much like the one in the link above.

 

argh, porter cable is a big costly for me right now. I already plan on getting zaino and quality MF towels this summer, but not sure if I can do the RO. Hopefully things will work out by hand, personally I prefer using just my hands, but if RO gets better results, i'll look into that for later.

as for the SMR, since the swirls aren't in any concentrated area, is it okay to just go over the whole car? Also, my local store only has the one for dark cars, should I get for lighter cars as well since i have a PW, black top, or is it okay to use the dark for the PW parts?

As for the Langka, i'm surprised that you guys don't find that it works all that well. I guess i should learn to do it the traditional method. Which is what I will do after I deal with the swirl marks.

thanks for the comments so far.

 

Sure, you can use the SMR over the whole car. Just take a section at a time...like a panel a weekend or something, and do a really, really good job. If you try to do too much all at once you will burn out, take short cuts and the results won't be as good. Slower is better.

The abrasive formulation for SMR is identical for light and dark, but the filler pigment is different. I really would suggest you hold out for the light on a Pepper White car. Any local 3M distributor can order it (it's the most common) and it usually comes next-day for me. Call around in the yellow pages...look under "auto body shop supplies" and make some calls.

It's fine to use the lighter on the black top, though.

 

i went to pep boys, where i found the dark colored one and asked them if they could get the light color one and they said no. so, I'm still looking, going to check murray's today. is there any online site that has it for a good deal? I need the light, dark, and perfect it II, so if shipping isn't killer I might just get it online instead.

Also, I tried seeing if my nail would catch on this one scratch and sadly it did. Guess i'm really gonna have to get a move on that learning how to use touch up paint.

 

Remember to check the Yellow Pages for Auto Paint Supplies or Auto Body Shop Supplies. It's those people who will have the better selection than the PepBoys type outlets. Or call a paint shop and ask them where they get their stuff.

As for online: These Guys have most of the 3M you need.

 

yah, murray's didn't have it either. Only the dark colored one again. I don't get it, why do places only carry the dark colored one?

anyways, I'll keep looking around locally and give the yellow pages a try. The thing is, i'm only missing the light colored one so it seems silly to pay shipping for just that bottle. Murrray's had the perfect it II and the dark colored one at a really great price.

thanks for the tip.

 

They carry the dark mostly because it's people with dark colors that more easily NOTICE the swirls and need it the most. More demand.

Worst case, don't let the lack of finding it stop your project. You CAN use the dark, But I would wash the car before the final wax because you don't want the darker fillers laying on PW.

 

well, i'll definitely get it somewhere. Figure might as well get it as I will probably need it in the future as well.

 

I have those little swirls too... Not sure if it's a Mini thing a car thing or from the cloth I was going over him with. Either way, the windex I use doesn't really work! It did on a few of them but others are ugh...

I also have some white spots, very tiny not even noticable until you obsess like I do. But I guess maybe it's from the white roof or something?

 

alright, school is almost over and I am starting to really get the tools I need for this job. I figured I might as well get the stone chips repaired since it will be easier to do it now when I polish the paint of the swirl marks. I read the link you posted on fixing stone chips and it seems pretty simple, although I have one question:

P21S total auto wash, is there anything like this I can use that I can find locally?

 

Mothers California Gold Car Wash and Meguiars NXT Car Wash are two of my store-bought favorites. Both are pretty gentle.

 

o.. so I could use just pretty much any wash? I thought there was something extra special about it and that's why the write up said to use it.

 

It's the most gentle and won't strip off any carnaubas. Many washes are sooo strong that they will do just that.